Newsmaker Q&A: Antonio Mlynek

Antonio Mlynek, 37, of Allentown. (DENISE SANCHEZ, THE MORNING…)

June 30, 2012|By Matt Assad, Of The Morning Call

Antonio Mlynek, 38, of Allentown is an unemployed warehouse worker who went from hero to victim June 23 in the Jordan Creek at Allentown's Jordan Park. He was saving his 7-year-old nephew from drowning in a 10-foot-deep swimming hole when he had a seizure. After someone took his nephew, Mlynek sank to the bottom. Bystanders pulled him out and revived him. He spent four days in Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest before he was released Wednesday. Mlynek is the subject of this week's Q&A.

Q: Has anyone told you how close you came to dying?

A: Yes, everyone. People are telling me I was under water for like three minutes. It's pretty scary. I had no idea how serious things got. I'm a lucky man.

Q: Do you remember what happened?

A: I remember seeing my nephew jump in and right away I could tell he didn't realize how deep it was. I could see he was in trouble, so I raced over to him and grabbed him just as he was going under. That's when I started to feel the seizure coming on. My fourth seizure — no idea why they come. I started screaming for someone to get my nephew 'cause my body started doing all those crazy things it does when I have a seizure and I knew I wasn't going to be able to save him. When I handed him off to someone, I remember thinking: Good he's going to be OK.

Q: Do you recall any thoughts you had after you went under?

A: I don't remember very much. I remember being in a pitch-black place, and there was actually this light in the middle. I thought: This can't be your time. Next thing I know I'm waking up in the ambulance. That's about it.

Q: Have you been in contact with any of the people who saved you?

A: No. I'm planning to go down to Jordan Park to see if I can find some of them this weekend, but really, I don't even know what they look like. I owe my life to these people, and I don't even know who they are.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to say to those people?

A: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for saving my life. The good Lord will bless every one of them on many levels.

Q: Does this near-death experience change anything about the way you will approach life in the future?

A: Well, they told me I'm not going to be able to work until I can figure out why these seizures are coming, but other than that, I look at this as a second chance. I'll just take it one day at a time and thank the good Lord for another chance at life.